UH’s Bess brings it in

The slotback enjoys hitting the highlight reels with a tough catch but knows that routine efforts make a receiver great

Davone Bess made perhaps the most spectacular catch of his life last year against New Mexico State in Hawaii's 49-28 romp at Aloha Stadium. One of his seven receptions for 128 yards was a 4-yard touchdown from UH quarterback Colt Brennan.

And it was a beauty, as the leaping 5-foot-10 slotback had to adjust in mid-air to reach low for the football -- and somehow he held on to it.

Bess said the eye-catching play was the result of a miscalculation on his part.

"I remember just basically running my route and trying to get open. I ran to the back of the end zone. I kind of anticipated Colt (throwing) high," Bess recalled after practice yesterday, before the Warriors (4-2) left for the mainland. "So I was trying to get a head start. I jumped in the air, and oh, low. So I had to basically reach down to haul it in and people thought I was just posing for the camera. That wasn't the plan. I just misjudged."

Bess -- a freshman All-American last year who leads the nation this fall in receptions per game (8.2) -- won't be trying for circus catches Saturday at New Mexico State. That's not how great plays happen, he said.

"In my situation it's not a matter of me wanting to make the spectacular play. If it happens, it happens," Bess said.

With Brennan's passing more accurate with every game (he's completing them at a rate of 73 percent), there haven't been that many opportunities for highlight-reel grabs.

"It's just going off what Colt does. The way he's throwing now, there's no need for me to try to do something extra," said Bess.

And that creates a problem that Bess is working on. For him, sometimes the routine catches are more challenging than the tough gets ... the ones that are rare now with Brennan's consistency.

"With each game he's getting better and better at just putting the ball on us. And that's great," Bess said. "But I'm definitely a true believer of that ... when I do have to make a hard, difficult catch, that's when I'm at my best. When the ball is right there, it's too good to be true. Almost too easy."

Bess isn't complaining about the passes being too good. He's pointing the finger at himself for getting a step ahead of himself.

"Sometimes. That's one of the reasons I've had a few drops this season," he said. "I need to take it one step at a time instead of thinking what I'm going to do before I get the ball," he said. "I just need to take it one step at a time and let it happen instead of thinking about it."

Receivers coach Ron Lee agrees.

"He wants to do well, and he's a great kid who knows there's things he can do better. He's just got to not try to do too much," Lee said.

It's certainly not a question of work ethic. Bess is one of UH's most diligent players, often spending extra time before or after practice with the automatic ball-throwing machine. That's why he's also among the nation's leaders in receiving yards per game (seventh, with 94.83) and has six TD receptions to tie for the team lead with Ian Sample.

Bess caught eight passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 68-37 victory at Fresno State.

But he knows it wasn't his best game, and every catch might be needed in what promises to be a shootout at Las Cruces between the nation's two most prolific passing offenses.

"I dropped two balls and both of them were my fault," Bess said. "If I have to look the ball all the way in and take a hit, that's what I have to do. That's No. 1. Securing the ball."